Uncharted
by Tigressa101
Summary: Optimus goes through great lengths to undermine Tigressa's authority. He finally realizes the only way to control her is the beat her at a challenge and gain the power to command her malicious Metal Head army (Metal Heads belong to NaughtyDog except for my own whom I've created just for her army.)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Duty Calls!

* * *

She watched as a shooting star passed over the crescent moon with no trouble. The moon itself didn't seem to mind comets passing by, but it feared them colliding with its unsightly surface which had already taken enough damage.

Artemis looked down at the town below her hidden from most views by the godly mountains and open to the mellow lake, Wakatipu. Queenstown wasn't much but it was a beautiful sight during the winter as well as the summer. Her younger twin brothers, Conroy and Conrad, and her little sister, Jasmine, lived with her in a home nearby.

She remembered that she had moved there to protect her siblings from Tigressa after she became sixteen and laid off military jobs for a more subtle life for the time being.

In about two years, she had enough money to buy a permanent three-story mansion with a great view of the lake as well as a 30-foot outdoor pool with a 10-foot Jacuzzi next to it.

It also had an aquarium that had a built in water slide that lead to the pool from the second floor. Apparently, it was a majority of the inner walls as well as the ceiling but it still had thick wood lining the rims of the visible glass. Sharks, octopi, many ocean-based fish, crabs, and eels littered the connected tanks which were only connected through the ceiling that had several cylinder-like pathways leading to each one.

The house's color scheme was blue and black with the walls being blue and the furniture being black. The fabrics were a mixture with Artemis being obsessed with tiger stripes (guess why). The outside of the house was also blue with access to the lake by its right side.

A dream house she loved as well as her family. She occasionally got visits from Dexter and other military friends including the Cybertronian-protecting trio, but she feared that one day, her enemy would find her disguised as one of her companions and destroy everything she had.

The thought seemed ridiculous but it chilled her to no end. Artemis peered up to see the sun begin to rise and swiftly ran down the mountainside towards her ground bound home.

As she unlocked her door and went into her mansion, she couldn't help but think about her siblings' future. Would they be safe with her? The question alone didn't seem to sink in to her tired mind.

Right as she touched the 8-seat corner sofa, the twins ran down the stairs and jumped right next to her with a hug each.

Artemis was slightly startled by the movement but shrugged it off by drowsily put both arms around the boys.

"What are you two doing up so early?"

Conrad frowned, "It's almost eight, sis. We always get up around this time due to old habits."

Conroy sat silently, glaring at a blue-ringed octopus that seemed to be watching them.

"Let me guess," she sighed heavily while rubbing her eyes, "you boys want pancakes, eggs, and bacon, don't you?"

Conroy shook himself out of his staring contest with the octopus and sarcastically replied, "Gee, you know us all too well!"

Artemis merely got off the large couch and went straight to the kitchen where she grabbed a few pans from the small island and placed them on the stove which resided on the larger one.

Just before she could ignite the black stove, her 100" TV lit up with Dexter's image. Her four 50" flat screens then flashed different lists and what appeared to be locations marked by red signatures.

"Artemis, I need you to return to base immediately. Optimus has come up with a plan that I think you might not like."

Artemis quickly shuffled to the front of the screen before answering, "What does the big guy have in mind? Hopefully it doesn't include the Metal Heads for mutiny against their leader. That wouldn't work like a car without an engine."

Dexter couldn't help but chuckle slightly, "Eh…no, no. That's not the plan. Optimus has decided to try and recruit both Tigressa and her siblings by issuing a challenge to her."

"You're kidding, right? A challenge for her loyalty? What the hell is he going to do, out-race her? Out-smart her? She's not that stupid nor do I believe that she'd let him live during a race against her."

Dexter put his fingers on the edges of his eyes, "No, what he's going to do is slightly more of an artifact chase with a time limit. If Tigressa can't find the six relics he's hidden on this planet in five hours, she'll have to enlist with the Cybertronians and thus be under Optimus' control. This would give him the power to subdue the Metal Heads as well as Tigressa and her siblings."

Artemis was speechless for a minute before she finally broke the silence, "So, you expect Tigressa to honor her word on the deal? Besides, what happens if she wins?"

"Then, Optimus has told us, much to our horror, he'll give her the Matrix of Leadership," Dexter said, bowing his head in denial.

"W-what!? He promised her that? W-why, why would he do such a thing!?"She practically screamed.

Dexter sighed, "Yes, he did and the challenge will be considered by Tigressa herself tomorrow when the Autobots and Decepticons invade the cavern that she resides."

"Sometimes, I question Optimus' sanity and his wisdom big time," Artemis scolded while shaking her head.

Dexter nodded at the statement, "Yep. By the way, your presence will be needed this evening so at 4 PM, Ratchet will open a ground bridge to the base and we'll discuss our opinions on the plan. See you then."

The screen's visual on the mercenary faded but the other four TVs still had the location markers on them with a mixture of Cybertronian and English texts.

"So," Conrad started, "does this mean we get to go to the military base too?"

Artemis raised a brow before rolling her eyes and heading back to the stove for breakfast.

* * *

"I didn't do shit! You're the last one who even touched it!" Arcee retaliated.

Smokescreen huffed before searching under the medical berths. He mumbled something which was inaudible to humans but Arcee heard clearly.

As soon as he stood up and faced here, his mind became scrambled with a hard punch to the head. He lay on the ground, rubbing his helm frantically as he heard the femme's footsteps leave the opposite direction.

He knew she would blab to her "boyfriend" about what he said and frankly, he didn't want the big lug chasing after him.

"What did you say this time?" Bumblebee smirked.

Smokescreen merely snorted and walked past him in a fit of anger.

Suddenly, both froze as the alarm went off. The yellow mech quickly activated the control panel to see what the emergency was.

"All Autobots and Decepticons are needed at the coordinates posted. Let's just say, our metal abomination friends are back with some new enemy tactics as well as upgraded comrades."

Smokescreen hissed at the command. He hated Metal Heads more than their leader and it showed. He watched as Bumblebee set the coordinates and prepared the ground bridge for departure.

Arcee finally came back but didn't bother acknowledging the rookie's presence. All three bots then transformed and headed towards their new destination.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Bowsink, the Godzilla of Kanjis, and Optimus' Raid

* * *

"Holy shit, it's like World War 3 out here!" Bumblebee yelled as he knocked another Ram-Head out of the way.

The yellow mech turned around to see a much larger Ram-Head grunting at him. This one had more of a lizard's tail and had more armor than the previous Metal Head.

It slid its claws over the dirt before sprinting at the scout. It hit the bot with brute force which nearly made Bumblebee fall over the edge of the cliff.

The Metal Head continued to weaken the scout until he signaled the creature to attack one more time. To it, the gesture seemed like a caution sign but it didn't listen and attacked.

As it came within a few feet, Bumblebee grabbed the new Ram-Head by the neck and chest and lifted it over his tired form. He then threw the beast over the canyon cliff and heard a tiny thump after a few seconds.

"If that didn't kill the bastard, I'm going straight to Tigressa about enemy invulnerability."

He spotted Smokescreen in hand to hand combat with the Captain and noticed the rhino Metal Head was pushing him towards the cliff edge that lead to a large trench that seemed to go on forever.

He immediately charged at the bulky Metal Head and shoved him off of the sports car. To his disappointment, Silos only slid a few feet and was ready to battle.

Captain Silos unleashed his sword once again and pounded the blade into the rocky ground causing a wave of energy to push the two mechs farther than Bumblebee's attempt on him.

He roared a warning before whistling which made most on the battlefield freeze.

Bumblebee felt the floor beneath him crack and separate, leaving him to stare down a dark crevice which then had four red eyes peering up at his struggling form. His optics widened as the unknown monster revealed its skull gem. 'Fuck!'

The yellow scout quickly fled from the large crack as the head of the monster breached the surface. He stumbled slightly as an earthquake seemed to prevent him from escaping. He looked up after he got a good distance away to see a Godzilla-like upper body climb through the demolished rock.

As the beast placed its feet on the ground along with its black and white armored tail, it screamed an audio shattering bellow. It then viewed the many creatures staring back at it and snarled.

Megatron stood there shocked at the monstrous Metal Head. He noticed the armor had lights on it as well as cables attached to three gigantic orange steamboat pipes that seemed to be smoking. It almost was like a ship.

He snapped himself out of his thoughts and growled at the beast who, in return, focused directly on him. Its red, emotionless eyes tracked his every move like a hawk watching its prey.

Everyone else ran the opposite direction while taking down a few Metal Heads in the process, leaving the warlord to deal with the enormous ship.

"Come on, you son of a bitch! I'll destroy you one way or another!" Megatron yelled.

The Titanic Metal Head hissed and brought its jaws down upon the warmonger. It didn't hear the warlord say anything else as it swallowed Megatron whole.

Arcee saw the scene unfold and screamed as Predaking held her back. Tears streamed from her optics as everyone stood in silence.

Suddenly, the ship groaned and wailed softly. Its cheeks inflated for a second before settling back down with its eyes opening and closing rapidly. Its throat did the same but this time stayed pumped until it moved upwards towards his head.

It roared in pain as finally its skull gem popped out of its socket and the beast's head exploded with only the lower jaw still connected to the lifeless body. Its lower half wobbled before it came crashing down with its upper half twisting unusually.

All bots and Metal Heads, including a dazed Captain, didn't move until a familiar grey figure bounced off the ground and slid to a stop with his face in the dirt.

The Metal Heads quickly retreat as the saw their weapon fall. The others, however, ran towards Megatron as he sat up and rubbed the remaining soil out of his optics.

The warlord turned to see several mechs staring down at him but smiled as Arcee hugged him and planted several kisses on his faceplates.

"Cybertronians," Optimus began, "although this victory is a sign of possibility, we need to continue our assault straight to the leader of these creatures and offer the deal to her. Hopefully she'll listen and try to comply with our terms."

"So when do we start?" Megatron questioned while holding Arcee close to his dirt-stained chest.

"First, I must inform Artemis that our meeting is cancelled and my decision is final. We move out now!"

* * *

Artemis came through Ratchet's ground bridge as quickly as she could with all three of her siblings in tow. She had gotten the Autobot leader's message but decided to come anyway.

The twins immediately went to an awaiting Vehicon who was their guardian for the time being. Jasmine was given to a Vehicon seeker who always was the caretaker of the girl and was nicknamed "Firestorm" due to him having scorch marks over his silver armor.

"So, did I miss anything?" Artemis said as she climbed to meet the medic's optics.

Ratchet smirked, "Yes, actually. Apparently Tigressa sent a monster Metal Head that resembled a ship known as the Titanic plus she has upgraded her Metal Heads to where a new species of Ram-Head have appeared."

"Bowsink? And Rhyno? Huh, I never thought Tigressa had transported them here," Artemis raised a brow slightly before shaking her head.

"Well hopefully, Optimus' plan will work and the Metal Heads will no longer be a problem."

* * *

Tigressa growled as Silos pleaded for her mercy. "You have failed me and you let do WHAT!?"

The Metal Head Captain cowered, "Apparently, that wretched warlord has…um…blown up one of our Bowsinks."

She face palmed at his stammering, "Why is it that when Cybertron was alive and well, we could kill the mightiest of warriors with two, maybe three Metal Heads tops, but now we send an entire army of monsters and the few living Cybertronians can kill them so easily?"

"In my opinion, perhaps we haven't been able to kill a Cybertronian for so long so we have forgotten how to defeat them."

Tigressa wanted to kill someone right now and anybody would suffice. But her anger disappeared as soon as her cavern began to shake.

It felt like a bomb was thrown on top of…wait a minute, a bomb? The tiger-dragon's face turned from furious to smirking. "The Cybertronians have arrived!"

Captain Silos flinched as he saw her stand up fast. He expected her to hit him but nothing came. Instead, he observed her walk past him with her tail swinging happily for their new guests.

Not wanting to upset her any more, he trailed behind her only to finally see dead Vehicons and Metal Heads scattering the gold coin-covered room.

Tigressa scowled and peered around the room suspiciously. Before she could inspect the ceiling, Optimus jumped down and tackled the tiger-dragon who responded by whipping her tail against his form.

He grabbed ahold of her neck and hung onto her bucking form. The Prime felt slightly nauseous as Tigressa wildly ran on all fours across the room and tried to fling him off of her back like a raging bull.

Suddenly, Tigressa reared up and slammed his back against the ground before rolling over and continuing her attempt to throw him off.

Dazed by the attack, Optimus kept his grip and pulled her neck back. The strain seemed to guide her to whatever direction he desired to go. He soon found a way to slow the irritated femme down until she only frantically moved her limbs like a spooked horse.

"Tigressa, stay still and I'll offer you a deal that will either benefit one of our fractions."

With that, the tiger-dragon just stood on all fours with her tail swinging angrily, her ears pointing backwards, and her nostrils flaring smoke. Optimus relaxed his hold but stayed perched on her back. He noticed how she was able to lift him despite their sizes being only ten feet different at most. Even Predaking in his own robot form had trouble balancing someone on his back.

"Alright," Optimus started, "here's my offer for you. If you can hunt and retrieve six relics I've stashed in different locations on this planet in five Earth hours, we'll leave you alone and you can have the Matrix of Leadership. However, if you lose this challenge we get your siblings and you have to obey my command which means the Metal Heads will no longer attack the Humans or us."

After a second of silence, the Autobot leader felt Tigressa chuckle, "And if I don't agree to this challenge?"

"Then I won't stop until your head is removed from your body!"

The tiger-dragon's grinned flattened a little, "What if I don't agree to your terms? Or perhaps, I request a different game?"

Optimus shifted to where his face was side by side to Tigressa's, "I believe I may be able to accept anything you have to present to me. Only, of course, if it has fair rules and has favorable outcomes for the both of us."

"Very well then, but you can keep my pathetic sisters and brothers. They are of no use to me anymore. Anyway, how about a race on Cybertron? We start at the Omega Lock and make our way to Vector Sigma, which I have heard has been opened by one of your human friends," Tigressa hissed.

She twisted her neck so she could see the mech on her back more visibly.

"Tigressa, I somewhat agree on the concept, but you have not revealed the 'prizes' of our endeavor."

She grinned wickedly, "If I win, I request that I get those six relics you were talking about and you let me feed on the one called Megatron. If you win, you get me and my Metal Head army as well as the gold in this joint because it is not useful by any means."

Optimus clenched his hand into a fist before sighing, "Fine, but instead of Megatron, how about an entire city of humans?"

Tigressa rolled her eyes and growled, "Alright, alright, humans will do. By the way I should warn you, you may gain control of my Metal Heads but the minute you win, IF you win, I won't obey you directly. Only if you truly need me will I come, otherwise, I'll most likely just roam the planet and feast on anybody who tries to claim me."

Optimus sighed, "That is something that I'll be fine with, as long as you keep your end of the bargain and don't kill more than two humans a month. But you'll want to disguise yourself as a natural occurrence in whatever region you're in, otherwise I will come after you the second I find a clue that leads down your direction."

Tigressa nodded before walking towards the exit, not paying any mind to the Autobot leader riding on her back. As she saw the light of day, both individuals noticed the Metal Heads had perched themselves among the elements while the bots stood their ground in defense just in case.

Ultra Magnus was the first to acknowledge their leader's presence and froze as he saw Optimus on the tiger-dragon.

The others looked terrified but also confused at their leader's actions. The Metal Heads, however, just jumped down and followed their master, hissing at Optimus knowing they couldn't attack without making their master pissed off.

Tigressa then roared at the creatures which Optimus considered was her telling them to back off as he got down. Not knowing how she would react, Optimus decided to stroke the spikes that lined her spine which made her emit a low snarl with a hint of a purr encased in her throat.

She bared her teeth, deciding whether or not to attack the Cybertronian but thought against it. As he strode towards his fellow comrades, his blue optics met her red-yellow ones and bowed his head in respect.

Tigressa shrugged off the gesture before turning back to her cavern and standing up, ordering her minions to follow.

"What the hell did you do, Optimus? How did you get her to let you ride her like a horse?" Wheeljack questioned.

Optimus shrugged as well and continued past all of them who still seemed baffled by his actions.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Cybertron Grand Prix

* * *

Captain Silos waited as Tigressa scanned her alt. mode which was a 2014 F-150 Muscle Truck she had accidently stumbled upon on Earth. He didn't know why she brought it all the way back to Cybertron but he had an idea and it involved hunger.

He kept glancing in the direction of the entrance to Vector Sigma. Something about the path to the mystical energy orb didn't seem right.

Finally Tigressa returned, but the truck's license plate was still being chewed on. His hunger theory was correct after all.

"My Mistress, are you sure you want to go through with this? What if you lose? We'll have to follow the Prime's commands!" The Captain shrieked.

Tigressa held her claw up before swallowing the remainder of the truck, "I'm not truly concerned about that. In fact, I sort of want him to win."

Silos was at a loss for words, "W-w-what!? You want us to be under his rule!?"

"I want to see how he reacts when he realizes the Metal Heads can only follow their true leader. Since I don't plan on staying whether he wins or not, the Metal Heads will always come back to me because I'm their creator! They cannot be controlled by anybody but the designated creator and leader. Kor is the only other person capable of commanding them.

"Besides, Optimus has no experience with them so the minute he orders them to do anything, they'll attack him. Technically, it wouldn't be my fault and I never broke the deal. Get it?"

The rhino thought for a second, "Oh, well that makes more sense. But wouldn't it bum you that he won against you?"

Tigressa motioned her hand to mimic the "so-so" gesture. She could really care less, but it would be nice to beat a Prime at any challenge.

Her ears perked up as she heard a ground bridge open. She hissed as she smirked, "Let the games begin."

The tiger-dragon swiftly crawled on all fours towards the sound of pedes and stopped in front of Optimus. She growled as he just stared at her with no patience. Apparently, he was as eager as her to get the race over with.

Both lined themselves up at the edge of the Omega Lock while Megatron signaled his Insecticons to wait at the end and record the entire race to make sure no one cheated.

Arcee stood in both contenders' way as she pronounced the rules, "Alright, this race will be fair no matter what either of you may want to do to the other, and if you break any of the rules I will announce in a second, you are disqualified and your opponent will automatically receive the win."

Tigressa gave Optimus an icy stare as both of them kneeled with their hands firmly gripping the rusted floor.

"Now the two primary rules are: there are no weapons allowed and you cannot use any shortcuts. The path that is recommended for this race has been singled out and the Insecticons have placed blockades that will now act as a visible track for you to maneuver on.

"Also, there are constructed obstacles on this track as well as natural impediments, but you cannot push the other bot into any of the barriers whatsoever. Like let's just say we had barrels in the road: if you were to push the barrels towards the other person or push the other opponent into the objects in general, you're disqualified.

"As for accidental pushing, if the Insecticons rule out that the ram was an accident, then they will not flag you so be careful and to be honest, I wish you luck on actually pulling off a 'fake' shove."

Optimus immediately transformed into his semi mode while Tigressa converted into her new muscle truck mode. Both engines roared with fury as Arcee smirked playfully.

"On your mark! Get set!"

Both vehicles' gears went into overdrive, anxious for the remaining word to be called out. Right as Arcee went down, everything but the two opponents stood motionless in silence.

"GO!"

In a blink of an eye, Tigressa shot straight towards the abandoned city with the track set. She was surprised to see Optimus do a wheelie in his monstrous form and frankly, she had always thought it was impossible for bulky trucks to do that.

Optimus inched ahead of her slightly but felt the cracks in the ground reduce his speed. As soon as he got on the track, he stayed on the inside of each curve, drifting enough to where his MPH meter settled at his estimate of 170 (120 being the gage limit on a semi) which he knew the arrow on his meter was farther than a normal semi could ever reach.

Tigressa liked her new vehicle form but struggled to keep up around the curves due to the Prime's heavy drifting. As the path straightened out finally, Tigressa noticed the barrels the motorcycle had mentioned were coming up.

As Optimus also realized this fact, it was too late. He slammed into a few and watched as Tigressa took the lead. He swore he heard laughter but paid no mind to the truck.

The tiger-dragon dodged the groups of barrels by staying near the barricades lining the track. When she couldn't get out of the way of one, she lifted her left side and drove on the wall. No one ever said she couldn't wall drive in the first place.

Optimus' engine grew furious under pressure and decided to move closer to Tigressa to make her angry. She merely snorted and used the wall to flip over the semi, but as she landed her tires swerved a little and bumped into Optimus which made his own vehicle spin.

"Ah shit!" She cursed. She knew she was done for.

But to her amazement, Arcee gave her a good statement, "That wasn't on purpose, Tigressa, Optimus. But try to keep tricks like that to a minimum otherwise we'll be forced to flag you. By the way, nice tricks!"

Tigressa breathed a sigh of relief while she instantly heard Optimus groan over the comm. She couldn't help but smile on the inside.

Optimus found he was driving backwards but didn't mind as soon as he saw it was working and he passed the stunned truck. Oh how he'd love to see the expression on her face right now.

After a few minutes, he noticed he was missing all the small obstacles by doing absolutely nothing while his opponent had to dodge all of them in order to keep up with him. He grinned, 'Karma, asshole!'

The Autobot leader immediately regretted his words as he felt himself slide as if there was oil on the metal. Sure enough as his slide turned him back around, an endless oil puddle as wide as the track forced him to frantically swerve and find a grip on the road.

Tigressa was having no luck either. Before she knew it, her form suddenly dipped down a steep slope and scratched against the right wall. She turned her attention on Optimus who began driving off of the walls and returning on the track only to cross to the other side and fly up again like a skateboarder on one of those U ramps.

She couldn't help but laugh again as she saw him do 360's every time he went up. Finally, he got a hold of his wheels and leveled out.

"Cutting elimination a bit close don't you think, Optimus?" Arcee commented sarcastically.

After a few seconds, the oil disappeared behind them and the real road was visible once again. Optimus was panting from the fun and excitement he had experienced in less than five minutes of total airtime. Something like that would tire Ratchet out in no time.

Tigressa was sort of scared about the next obstacle, hoping it wasn't what she was thinking. Surprisingly, it wasn't for in its place was a ton of ramps and pipes. 'This is going to be fun!'

Both vehicles were neck to neck as they jumped off the gradients with ease. Some of which went over or under the other.

Optimus quickly saw an open pipe and used the ramp to get inside. Just for the hell of it, he turned to the right and did five loops around before straightening out again and exiting the cylinder.

Tigressa accidentally floored it on the ridge and flew over the conduit. She hit the metal ground hard which startled her as she regained control over her alt. mode. It seemed alarming at first, but she did it once more and found a new method of landing which hurt less.

"Alright, Cybertronians, where's the other obstacles?" She muttered to herself. If her headlights could grow as wide as her true eyes, they would have.

Right in front of them was a wrecked building that seemed to have toppled over and got stuck on a larger one. The destroyed one apparently had the track panels guiding the racers through the skyscraper and onto the rooftops of the others.

Optimus didn't hesitate to put the pedal to the metal as he began to climb the slope towards the next impediment awaiting them.

Tigressa trailed behind him until both found themselves floating above the land. She instantly tried to push forward with her door wings which helped a little. As the rooftop where the track began again was in sight, she quickly closed her doors and brought her front end up.

The impact on the roof stung massively in her joints and tires while Optimus seemed only bothered with his front in general. Both shook nervously as the track made a bridge to another rooftop and then another after that; a never-ending bridge it seemed like until they spotted more ramps.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, fuck!" Tigressa mumbled as both she and the Autobot leader once again went towards the heavens.

This time no track was visible which made Optimus panic slightly. He calmed down as he spotted the track, but suddenly, panic filled his processor once more and what made him panic more was the fact that the track was all the way on the ground floor.

They zipped by more buildings until finally touching down on the ground once again. Both yelled in pain with Optimus finally cursing out loud, "Fuck! Fucking Arcee, I will murder you and the Decepticons when I get my servos on their necks!"

"Ha, you'd have to catch us, oh 'wise and glorious leader'!" Arcee retaliated.

Tigressa didn't say a damn thing about their conversation but grinned widely as she saw Megatron's stadium. 'Vector Sigma, here I come!'

Optimus must have seen it too, for he immediately roared his engine again in eagerness and did a small wheelie as well. He was most likely smirking as much as Tigressa, but she couldn't read his mind.

As they stormed the colossal arena, they drove straight through the entrance to Vector Sigma and continued to race through the battered halls, hoping no scraplets were near.

Optimus' spirit lifted as the orb of energy became visible and a group of Insecticons waited for them at the marked finish line.

Tigressa growled and pushed all her remaining energy into her engine. She was so close; she could feel victory and taste the humans her opponent had promised.

Optimus was equal with her but he stressed his gears to give him a few more inches, 'Come on, almost there!'

Both vehicles nose to nose finally crossed the line and skidded to a halt. The Insecticons rewound each other's video angles and were stumped. It seemed it was a tie.

They turned to stare at the trucks, who just sat there blowing smoke from their grills trying to cool down. Tigressa's form seemed lower than when she started out; her tires were worn out already as well as Optimus'.

Optimus broke the tension by transforming back to his robot mode but instantly sat next to Tigressa's truck form and laid back with his elbows up and his hands on his face.

The tiger-dragon followed suit and looked somewhat like a cat resting on its belly with its paws tucked under its body. Her nostrils released the pressurized smoke that had built under her hood over the course of the race. It seemed like too much excitement for one day, or perhaps she was just getting old and couldn't do as much as she wanted anymore.

"Optimus, sir," One of the Insecticons said concerned about their master's friend's well-being.

"Yeah, what…is…it?" He said in between breaths.

"Um…both of you tied, so do you want to do the race over again, or what?"

As soon as he heard that answer, his eyes widened with anger, a growl emitted from his throat, and his figure began to shake furiously, "FUCK!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A New Adventure Approaches!

* * *

The Insecticons mumbled quietly to each other as Megatron helped a raging Optimus up.

"So, you both won and lost, huh? Well, you could race again…"

"NO! I-I do NOT want to do that again. Damn near gave me a spark attack!" Optimus interrupted.

Tigressa chuckled a little but made sure no one was looking at her. She didn't notice that Optimus had moved closer to her and gave a yelp as he called her name.

"Tigressa, since we technically both won, how about we make an agreement of sorts?"

The tiger-dragon hesitated for a second before answering, "Uh…sure. How about you get humans you promised me and I'll just be on my merry way. No dead humans, no Matrix of Leadership, nothing!"

Optimus raised a brow, "I was thinking more along the lines of a truce. I will not take your Metal Heads nor will I command them or you, but if we need you, we'll contact you. This also means don't attack any humans or us and if you need something, we'll get it for you. How about that?"

He extended his hand to her which made the latter uneasy. Tigressa snarled and turned her head away, but growled once more and raised her hand to meet his.

"Alright! Deal, but I'm not teaming up with Artemis when you do call. The minute we see each other, do expect us to be at each other's throats."

The Autobot leader nodded silently before Tigressa transformed into her beast mode and hovered above him.

"Oh and by the way, what are you going to do with those relics you had hidden?" She hissed.

Once again, Optimus froze. He had forgotten that the relics were still locked inside the cities. "Crap."

Everyone else couldn't help but laugh as their leader seemed bewildered on the fact that his artifacts were stuck in human possession. For once, he didn't know what to do and he couldn't retrieve them during the day, but the night still had humans wandering about plus it would be hard to stay in vehicle mode.

"Tigressa, you wouldn't mind helping us regain the objects, would you?" Optimus moaned in defeat.

She shrugged at the question, "I so far don't have anything better to do. Just don't pair me with someone."

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL, OPTIMUS!?" Tigressa screeched.

She blandly stared at the monument before her: the Eiffel Tower of Paris. How that repetitive leader got a relic in that tourist attraction was beyond her.

Luckily, Agent Fowler pulled some strings and got the monument as well as the nearest views, roads, and blocks closed off and military personnel monitored both the ground and skies for any unwanted intruders. The city was practically evacuated due to a "toxic contamination" on the premises.

Just studying the figure alone was making her curious on how the Prime did it. She continued to glare painfully at the cenotaph until she felt a soldier knock on her passenger door. Her right mirror met the mercenary's face and acknowledged his nod.

'Showtime,' she thought as she transformed back into her robot mode. Her tail and ears seemed condemned to move irritably as she came with five feet of one of the Tower's legs.

Finally, she began to climb with her tail swinging and her hind legs gripping the structure for dear life. Apparently to the military accomplices below, she looked like a fat lizard trying to escalate a castle with dismantled bricks sticking out. So much for not being able to read minds.

Every time she reached a flat level (in her opinion, her legs would appear like a sitting cat's and her arms would be positioned where one sat in between her legs while the other grabbed the nearest group of iron lattice rivets on the side of the Tower.

As she drew closer to the top, she felt her claws slipping and scraping across the iron like nails on a chalkboard. She soon had to wrap her limbs around the entire remaining structure and slide up from the intermediate platform towards the top which felt awkward nonetheless.

Finally, she hooked her talons on the top platform and lifted herself up to see the relic resting peacefully. It looked like Smokescreen's phase shifter.

The phase shifter was there but it left Tigressa with the mystery of why Optimus took it from the rookie in the first place. She immediately grabbed it and placed her other hand on top of the Tower, which rewarded her with a crunch-like noise.

The tiger-dragon rose above the top platform only to see a squashed antenna resting bent over the crown of the monument. This gave her a rule-breaking idea.

She then scaled the remainder of the structure until her feet buried themselves into the platform and her servos stayed by their side. Her tail fluctuated up and down while her spine rattled madly. She now appeared like an elephant balancing on a ball half its size.

Tigressa instantly saw the fear on the faces of the soldiers below as she let out a sickening roar of success. She knew that what they feared was the exposure of her as well as the questions that all the citizens would throw at them. She'd bet anything that some humans actually did hear her.

Suddenly, a crack made her pause and peer at the platform. One of the rivets had broken under her weight and two more seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.

As quickly as she could, Tigressa unleashed her wings and glided back down. When she touched the ground, a thought sprang into her lurking mind. 'I could have just flown up…and…oh, I'm an idiot.'

Her face turned sour as the realization hit her. She sighed heavily and transformed back into her truck mode, letting a few soldiers hitch a ride back to base.

* * *

"Here," Tigressa grumpily said as she placed the phase shifter on the table, "take your phase shifter back. I don't need it."

"That's where it was, Paris?" Smokescreen pondered as he reinstated it on his wrist.

He mumbled something about Optimus and other things as he stalked back to his quarters. Optimus, in response, just rolled his eyes at the rookie's remarks.

"So, did any of your 'friends' get you the other relics?" Tigressa questioned.

Optimus smirked evilly, "I was hoping you would retrieve all six of them, 'Mistress'."

Her left eye twitched as she growled. She gave a short roar before walking away with a scowl, "Piss off, Optimus, and go fetch the other five yourself! After all, you stored them away, so they're your responsibility!"

"Alright, but remember what we agreed upon."

Tigressa merely made a hand gesture meaning "yap, yap, yap" and continued towards the exit of the base where she transformed into her jet mode and sped off back to her cave in Scotland.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Off-Road Rage

* * *

"I don't get it! I just don't get why Arcee would choose such a…a!"

"A bucket head with a big ego and unlimited power?" Knockout finished, driving past honking cars with Smokescreen in tow.

"Yeah! Why did he gain her trust, her loyalty?" Smokescreen stammered.

Knockout knew jealousy when he heard it and speeding on a freeway with humans angrily yelling at him was one way to spark even more hate.

"Why are so jealous? She obviously chose him fair and square since she spent more time with him than you," Knockout smirked.

Smokescreen growled at the statement, "First off, no, I'm not jealous. Secondly, she never wanted to spend time with me in the first place. She considered me an arrogant, self-proclaimed bastard who only wanted glory and the girls. A winner, you know?"

The red Aston Martin laughed, "That's because you pushed her away with your smug attitude that you didn't realize you had 'AT' the time!"

He heard the sports car scoff and speed up until they reached an exit to the fields where they had celebrated the fourth of July, or what the humans referred it to as Independence Day.

They eventually found a decent place to rest and transformed with Smokescreen immediately lying down.

"Wait, didn't warriors who took an interest in the same bot fight over him or her, and the victor always receive the bot in the end?"

Knockout became suspicious at his question, "Yes, why?"

Smokescreen grinned massively, "Because I think Bucket-Head and I need a little one on one. He doesn't deserve her and I'm going to prove it!"

The Aston Martin shook his head, "Jealous AND greedy? Boy, you really should think this through. Besides, even in the slightest chance you win, it's not like Arcee's going to respect you and fall in love with you instantly. She made her choice and her loyalty will remain with him no matter what you do."

The sports car smirked, "Maybe, but I can change her mind. I know it!"

* * *

Miko watched as Megatron (theDarkGladiator) and Arcee (WarriorPrincess2.0) played Grand Theft Auto 5 on the ultra-sized screen and made special sound effects when one of them died from the cops or their own stupidity.

June couldn't believe a strict warlord who hated human-based things in general actually liked a game so vile made from humans. She observed how Megatron stole a tank from the military base and shot down Arcee, who was piloting a large passenger airliner towards the city.

It amazed her that, despite only playing the game for two hours, the warmonger had already turned the fake world into a battle zone. He had five stars and had only died three times since they had begun the wretched game; the mech was practically invincible.

Arcee on the other hand, she was his target a majority of the time as well as a player named StrikerM-80, who was doing his best to demolish the tank Megatron was residing in. Every other online player seemed to stay on the opposite side of the map from the trio.

As they continued to bask in the video game world, Demon merely rolled his eyes and monitored the information scrolling on his screen. He thought human games were as meaningless as his love for Tigressa. But he had admit, some did look pretty good.

He winced slightly as Miko's voice squealed again until his monitor flashed a familiar sports car's face.

"Hello? Anybody up there?" The rookie immediately said.

Demon sighed as he responded, "Yes Smokescreen, what do you need this time? A bridge or your common sense this time?"

He heard the four-wheeler chuckle, "Ha, you're the one to talk? You allied yourself with a dreadful person who has killed millions of species."

"Hey, it wasn't exactly a choice at the time. So, what do you want!?"

"Easy, Dragon Boy, I just want to talk to Megatron about a new…idea…I've come up with."

"He's busy at the moment," Demon replied dryly, "Sorry to disappoint."

Smokescreen huffed, "Well when he gets done with whatever he's doing, tell him to meet me at the field where we enjoyed the fireworks. Trust me; he'll 'love' my proposal."

With that, the line went dead and the dragon raised a brow distrustfully. Something didn't seem right and his instincts were literally screaming at him to not tell Megatron. But he knew it also wasn't his call to conceal any order he was given despite the fact that he ranked higher than Smokescreen to begin with.

Demon turned his attention to the in-game warlord who had just died from Arcee removing him from his tank and beating him with a bat to death. The expression on his face was, as humans said, "priceless". Arcee seemed very smug while a stunned Megatron shook his head in defeat.

"Hey, 'theDarkGladiator', Smokescreen wants you to meet him in a field where you had Independence Day. He says it's about an offer he wants to make with you. Personally, I wouldn't go."

Megatron grunted, "Oh, and what's so bad about Smokescreen's overture?"

Demon didn't answer and went back to his station. The warlord smirked as he went back to his game.

"I'll meet him right after I get 'wasted' this round," he retorted as Arcee moved her character close to his re-spawned one in order to attempt to bat him again.

Out of curiosity, the dragon peered up at the simulated humans on the gaming screen and studied both of them.

Megatron's person apparently had a fit body with fancy grey haircut and a goatee of the same color. His suit was also grey but had gold chains coming out of his pockets as well as black gloves and shoes. He also displayed a necklace with a purple pendant which Demon guessed represented his Decepticon insignia.

Arcee's character, however, bore a black ponytailed hairstyle with two stands of curls hanging in front of her ears. She exhibited a black crop top with an open blue jacket with pink highlights over it. She also showed a blue mini skirt with black leggings coming up to her mid-thigh as well as blue calf-high heeled boots with some pink highlights too.

What people created in games was beyond him, but whenever Arcee fell, everyone got a nice crotch shot of pink underwear. Even he had to give the creators points for ingenuity.

Luckily for him, the game was finally over, for Megatron had "accidentally" stumbled off the mountainside (Arcee actually sprayed him with a fire truck hose) of one of the largest hills and snapped his neck on the way down. He was slightly angry that he'd died from something so survivable (for his species) and had to meet with the rookie, but he knew he would be able to play again afterwards.

He tossed the controller to Soundwave, who immediately switched accounts and activated his own character that had a dark purple trench coat over the same colored slacks and a long sleeve shirt. He also exhibited a dark purple hat with a full faced black mask with no eyeholes and a collar with a hawk pendant attached.

The warlord left the room right after his TIC took the controller. He then proceeded to the top deck where he transformed into his alt. mode and flew towards the rookie's field. The flight only took twenty minutes despite the fact that he could have bridged over, but he felt that it was best to stretch his wings for a bit.

As he arrived at the meadow, he noticed that his medic was also there with the stern-looking sports car. A yellow flag was raised in his head as he converted back to his robot mode and met the rookie halfway across the grassland.

"So, boy, what did you want to offer me?" Megatron started while absorbing the malicious smirk on the mech's face.

"Oh, I thought that we could have a duel…for Arcee's hand!"

At that instant, Smokescreen punched the warlord in the jaw and kicked him with a force that the latter didn't expect.

Megatron shook off the assault and growled as he positioned himself for combat, "That's your definition of a proposal?"

"No, what I want is Arcee, so here's what I have to offer. If you beat me in a traditional fight, you can keep her, but if you lose, she's mine!"

"Oh, I see, you're jealous of me. If you want to 'play' for keeps, then you must realize you're going against a professional gladiator."

"Huh, I never knew, but aren't you too old for this, gramps? I mean you're like an old man who dates a teenager, you don't belong with her. She deserves someone more her age, someone who won't die by the time she comes close to the human age equivalence of 40!" Smokescreen remarked with a hint of antipathy.

The warlord roared angrily and lunged at the smaller bot. His claws missed the sports car but dug into the ground with ferocity.

Smokescreen dodged his powerful attacks and grinned, "I told you, Fossil Face, you're losing your touch."

This earned him a few more punches that he easily avoided.

"Most likely, your touches probably made Arcee fall asleep. But I assure you, I'll show her how a real mech does things on a berth," Smokescreen concluded with a sick smile.

His eyes widened suddenly as lightning-fast strikes knocked him left and right. He tried to block but only found himself becoming more and more vulnerable by the second. He caught a glimpse of the warmonger's face and shuddered in fear at the blazing red optics filled with years' worth of rage.

Every hit weakened him until he found himself stuck between the ground and the tyrant's colossal form. He tried to push the brutal mech off of him but found no luck.

Megatron continued his beating until one final massive punch made his form retract from the broken sports car. He peered down at the unconscious, bleeding form below him and his own Energon-stained servos. He had won, but he knew the usual rules were to kill your opponent; he wouldn't do that, it would devastate Optimus and more importantly, his beloved Arcee.

His breathing slowed down a little before Knockout reached the rookie's side and examined him.

"Lord Megatron, he is very critical. You've rupture a lot of internal framing as well as his spinal cord."

Megatron nodded sadly, "Soundwave, bridge us back and tell Ratchet to come straight to the warship immediately."

And with that, a ground bridge appeared, and the warlord picked up the damaged mech whom he then carried back to the Nemesis with Knockout trailing close behind.

* * *

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Ratchet bellowed.

Megatron sighed, "Smokescreen attacked me and said things that…um…activated the anger I've concealed over the past millennia. Apparently, he was jealous that I had Arcee and tried to duel me for her hand."

"Young, incompetent idiot, going against someone who has killed more Cybertronians than he's ever seen in his entire life cycle," the medic mumbled to himself.

"Hey," Megatron countered, "that wasn't what I intended to do with my power. I just…sort of…came to be from certain decisions I made…though not very smart ones."

Ratchet ignored him and continued to hook Smokescreen on life support.

"I'm afraid that Smokescreen now must be monitored at all times," Optimus began, "as soon as he has recovered. I do NOT want an incident like this ever happening again! Someone should tell him when he awakes."

Knockout scratched his neck nervously.

"And as for you, Knockout," the Autobot leader scolded, "next time someone in your presence plans against one of his fellow teammates, I suggest you inform us immediately!"

The medic flinched and went back to aiding Ratchet with fear becoming visible in his movements. Hearing Optimus angry was more frightening than Megatron trying to kill someone.

"So Optimus, you aren't mad about what I did to him?" Megatron questioned, still staring at the faded blood on his hands.

"Although I disapprove of your actions, Smokescreen dragged you over a line that even I would have crossed if it was about Elita or Arcee since she's like a daughter to me. I strongly suggest that you try to ignore the hard comments one would say to agitate you."

Megatron snarled slightly, "He did deserve it. Little punk-ass!"

Optimus couldn't read his companion's expression. It seemed to shift from happiness to anger to protectiveness to lust and then back to happiness. As long as his brother was satisfied, he really didn't mind it much.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Return to Vector Sigma

* * *

Jack and his friends were thrilled about their new gift: a portion of gold from Tigressa's lair. None of them had ever seen so much, and they were well aware that there was more.

"Can you believe this? We're trillionaires!" Miko shouted as she threw a handful of gold coins into the air.

"But wait, how are we going to explain to the government or anybody how we became so wealthy?" Jack pondered.

"We aren't!" June hissed, "This is our secret and I'm sure Bill will be able to convince the government that we can keep it. I highly doubt, however, that they'll let us parade around with the money like we own the country!"

Miko laughed, "Uh…we could if we wanted to."

"Not without permission you're not," June scolded, "besides, just because the Universe's twisted princess gave you that money, doesn't mean we are going to spend it on anything we desire. We're going to use it properly and only use a certain amount at a time. Got it!?"

Miko's grin went downhill as did Jack's. Raf didn't seem too concerned with the money but felt disappointed that he couldn't get a new advanced computer at will.

"Rafael, I need your assistance for today," Optimus said as he made his way to the trio who had two Decepticon troops watching them.

"What do you require, Optimus?" The teen asked nervously.

"I want you to monitor the ship for the time being with Soundwave. Something on Cybertron demands our attention and I would like someone who can understand our language to keep the ship in check. Let's just say, you get to be the leader for a while."

Miko scoffed loudly, "Lucky! No one ever puts me in charge!"

"That's because no one gets themselves into more trouble than you," Jack replied, holding a sapphire necklace up to his mother.

Miko sat between one of the trooper's legs and murmured to herself as she continued to play with the loot.

* * *

"What's the problem, Shockwave?" Megatron inquired.

"My Lord, there seems to be something wrong with Vector Sigma. Its energy patterns have become increasingly calm, almost as if something was tampering with it."

"Get ready for departure," he instantly said, "and make sure Smokescreen can't go with us, won't you?"

The one-eyed mech simply nodded.

* * *

As Raf sat on Soundwave's shoulder, the group of mechs left the ship and found themselves in front of Megatron's stadium where the entrance resided.

"Whatever you do, make sure you stay quiet. I don't know who or what is in there, but we don't want it to be alerted to our presence," Optimus ordered as he began to stalk towards the dark hall leading to the energy orb.

Every bot watched the ceilings, the walls, and the pathway for any Scraplets or unknown things that could catch their attention.

Suddenly, ghostly whispers began emanating from all around them which made a few freeze in their tracks. The sounds seemed most dense in front of Optimus who continued on despite the warnings the voices were giving.

They finally reached Vector Sigma, but the orb appeared to be wrapping threads of energy around an unrecognizable black and white figure. The voices were communicating with it until Optimus stepped into the room, then all was silent.

"So," the figure started, "you're the Cybertronians who brought my daughter to her knees. I am astounded that you managed to do that, despite her only being awake from a twenty million year slumber for twenty five years."

The individual turned around to meet the optics of the Autobot leader whom he noticed was flabbergasted himself.

Optimus stared at the figure and saw that he looked like Demon and his brothers but was larger and posed a crown upon his head. He quickly acknowledged the fact that Vector Sigma was only responding to the dragon king despite it being among the presence of Cybertronians for millions of years.

"I-I'm sorry if we were disturbing something. I didn't expect…," he trailed off.

The king smiled, "You didn't expect Sigma to be capable of speech nor did you with me being able to communicate and understand it. I remember when she was first created as a partner to Primus; the expression on the god's face was priceless!"

Megatron then interrupted, "Wait, that's a 'she'? You mean, it was a female companion to Primus all along? Damn."

"Yes, well, Sigma is a goddess on her own but Primus didn't want her to be corrupted by your war, so he hid her deep within Cybertron where there was only one way to and from her chamber. I would say he did it out of love, but there are a few who think he did it out of greed and lust. He created a key to the entrance that he gave to you, Optimus, when he bestowed the Matrix upon you."

Optimus still was shocked and did not utter a word. Bumblebee filled in for him, "Who are you, by the way? We've never seen you before, but we've already had the 'pleasure' of meeting your children."

The king nodded at the sarcasm, "Ah, yes, my name is Prometheus Kronos or King Kronos for short. I have the ability to harness the elements of the universe as well as control the creatures that live in the five major galaxies of the Serpent Sector. You've already learned that my children carry powers of certain elements with a few others, but my main component is metal, which is why I like Cybertron very much."

Bumblebee remained quiet as the king approached Optimus with what appeared to be the Spark Extractor, "By the way, you really should be careful where you place valuable items on this planet. Despite it not being able to secure life on its surface, thieves still roam planets like this to scavenge and sell goods illegally."

Optimus took the circular disk and noticed it was repaired from the Dark Star Saber's attack.

"Would you like to come to Earth, King Kronos?" Optimus asked, "Would you like to see your children again?"

King Kronos smirked brightly which the Autobot leader guessed was a "yes".

The king followed them back to the warship where several Vehicons greeted him and the humans waved shyly. He couldn't help but talk to some of them about their adventures with the Cybertronians. He wanted to catch up on some history that he had missed, for he was dealing with some of his own problems on his home planet and couldn't watch over the Autobots.

* * *

"F-Father?" Demon stuttered as her peered at the king.

His processor seemed scrambled at the mere sight of his sire. He hadn't seen the mech for forever and honestly, he had forgotten some of the latter's appearance.

"Son, I have returned," the king said in what was an astonished whisper.

Demon felt lubricant trying to leak from his optics and instantly hugged his father with a tight grip. He even laughed a little when he heard a grunt as he tackled the king. After a few seconds, he released the poor, old mech but still kept his hands on his sire's shoulders.

"I-I thought you were never going to come for us," he muttered.

The king had a regretful expression and replied, "I never wanted to banish you in the first place and it pained me to watch you go as well as to see your mother suffer every time she passed by each one of the chambers that you and your siblings had resided in. After a while, I went looking for you, but I couldn't get close without alerting Tigressa until now."

Demon smiled softly, "So, are you going to stay with us this time? Help us aid the Cybertronians?"

"Yes, my dear boy, I will but I have to bring your mother along with me if I am to stay."

The red and black mech didn't know what to do. He was paralyzed from sadness and happiness at the same time; he was finally going to see the family reunited once more.


End file.
